The No.3 shirt was last seen hanging off Jordi Osei-Tutu (now 52 – number, not age) in the Europa League last season after Kieran Gibbs left it behind when he joined West Brom. Perhaps Unai Emery has plans for the No.13 having been underwhelmed so far by his goalkeepers. It won’t be adorning Keylor Navas’s back, though.

Presumably No.8 wasn’t retired by the Clarets after it hung for seven glorious years on Dean Marney’s back. Jon Walters may well take back No.19 after returning from his loan at Ipswich, though whether Sean Dyche wants to give it back to him is another matter.

Cardiff
Vacant number: 15
Formerly held by: Greg Halford.

Halford’s shirt remains unoccupied after leaving in the summer. So does Halford.

Chelsea need a new No.9 in every possible sense. Alvaro Morata wore it last season before moving to 29 – not because that is the number of chances he needs to score a goal, but to honour the birth of his twins. John Terry’s No.26 is still vacant too; we presume he would kill any usurpers with his bare hands.

Despite signing an entirely new back four in the summer, none of Fulham’s recruits could be persuaded to take the No.2 shirt. We’re not sure if 12 has been retired in Joe Lewis’ name but the goalkeeper has been gone for two-and-a-half years now.

Good, solid 1-11 work by Claude Puel but almost £45million worth of strikers have left 13 and 19 vacant. At least the Foxes got some cash back for Ahmed Musa, but there’s little chance of Islam Slimani coming back for his No. 19 shirt.

Christ, how United could do with filling their No.5 shirt. Marcos Rojo left it on the peg when he swiped Michael Carrick’s No.16 instead. Marcus Rashford graduated from 19 to 10 at the start of the season, leaving the job of filling Eric Djemba-Djemba’s old jersey to someone else.

Newcastle
Vacant number: 16
Formerly held by: Rolando Aarons.

Rolando Aarons is back from a loan spell in the Czech Republic but he can’t reclaim his shirt until the new Premier League squads are announced. Other than that, nothing to see here. Don’t let Rafa tell you he needs players…

Steven Davis won’t return for his No.8 – the midfielder’s Saints deal expires at the same time his Rangers loan finishes. Presumably Manolo Gabbiadini’s No.20 will free in the not-too-distant future, too.

Tottenham
Vacant numbers: –
Formerly held by: –

You have to go all the way to 25 to find a spare Spurs shirt which, more than any other reason, is exactly why Mauricio Pochettino should be managing a club like Real Madrid. .

West Ham couldn’t take any more of Matthew Upson flailing about in Bobby Moore’s shirt so they retired it ten years ago. Presumably Jordan Hugill’s shirt hasn’t been given the same treatment and he’ll want it back when he returns from Middlesbrough.